UK’s Woodland Trust to plant a million trees

The Woodland Trust is to plant around a million trees on several sites across the UK to protect the “UK’s equivalent of the rainforest”,  reports Horticulture Week.
“The Plant a Tree appeal will help us plant around a million trees at five key sites across the UK, with others to come in the future,” said conservation [...]

Welsh woodlands to fight climate change

Climate change experts from across Europe will be seeing how the Welsh woodlands are already helping to alleviate the effects of climate change, says a press release from the UK Forestry Commission.
Researchers in Wales are putting in place exciting new ways in which the forests can help prevent flooding as well as locking away millions [...]

New tree species found in car park

Scientists who discovered a new species of tree standing beside a country road have named it “no parking” after a sign that was nailed to the trunk, according to a report in the Independent newspaper.

A team of botanists found the tree in a north Devon lay-by while working on a project in which 14 new [...]

Old elm ‘may help save other trees’

Experts hope an elm tree that survived the ravages of Dutch elm disease could hold the key to the species survival in the UK, the BBC News website reports.

The elm was discovered in a Worcestershire hedgerow, near Pershore, two years ago.
It had remained unnoticed because it was assumed all elms in the area had been [...]

Bleeding cankers continues to take its toll

The avenue of 43 horse chestnut trees at Barrington Court, near Ilminster, in Somerset is being cut down and replaced with a variety of oak, the Telegraph reports.
The National Trust decided the trees had do go for safety reasons, following an infection of bleeding canker that causes the trees to lose bark and branches and [...]

Plant diseases threaten woodlands

Some of the finest gardens and woodlands in Britain are under threat from two closely related and aggressive fungus-like plant diseases, the BBC News website reports.

UK Environment Minister Jane Kennedy said they were attacking “pristine” locations and could potentially damage the landscape and the tourism industry.
The government has allocated £25m in a bid to eradicate [...]

Lost golf ball found embedded in tree

A lost golf ball has been found embedded deep in the trunk of a tree at a golf club in Norfolk, UK, the Telegraph reports.
The tree had apparently grown around the ball which had probably been lodged in its branches many years ago.
It was discovered when Richard Mitchell, greenkeeper at the Eaton club in Norwich, [...]

Indonesia favours palm oil over peatlands

The Indonesian government will allow developers to convert millions of hectares of land for oil palm plantations, reports Mongabay.com.
The decision threatens to undermine Indonesia’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land use and fashion itself as a leader on the environment among tropical countries.
Gatot Irianto, head of research and development for the Agriculture [...]

UK to set tougher timber measures

From the beginning of April, only certified timber and timber products will be able to be used on UK government properties and projects, according to a press release from the UK Forestry Commission.
The material will have to originate either from independently verified legal and sustainable sources or from a licensed Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & [...]

Firm to trial bleeding canker ‘cure’

Arboriculture specialists may have found a cure for bleeding canker in horse chestnut trees, Horticulture Week reports.
It says arboculturalist consultancy Jonathan Cocking Associates (JCA) will trial a newly patented product with English Heritage.
JCA managing director Jonathan Cocking said he was trademarking the product, which kills canker bacterium in trees’ vascular systems.
Plugs of bark are removed [...]